The Gimonnet family can be traced back to 1750 growing vines around the village of Cuis, south of Epernay, but it was between the wars that Pierre Gimonnet set up the winery that allowed him to become a grower-producer, specialising in Blanc de Blancs. Pierre Gimonnet was succeeded by his son Michel. Michel’s understanding of terroir led him to acquire parcels beyond Cuis and into neighbouring Cramant and Chouilly. Olivier and Didier worked with their father Michel for a decade until his retirement in 1996 (he died in 2008), and have continued, and improved on, his work for over 20 years. His sons have continued this principle, expanding into Oger in 2005 and as far south as Vertus in 2008. The House now has 40 separate parcels across 28 hectares – 16ha of Premier Cru and 12ha of Grand Cru – all in the Côte des Blancs. At harvest time, grapes are handpicked, traditionally pressed and then vinified in small batches, parcel by parcel, in 25 to 125 hectalitre tanks to create the Gimonnet champagne. Today they produce 250,000 bottles.

Created in 1947 'The Pearl of Gimonnnet' by Pierre Gimonnet is a Blanc de Blancs bottled with less sugar and yeast to produce a finished champagne at lower pressure around "4 atmospheres" compared to a typical 6 atmospheres of pressure. This creates smaller bubbles which in turn form a softer texture or mouthfeel - Gastronome 2018 is a superb aperitif champagne or great with those lighter seafood dishes. Historically created for the restaurants for 'by the glass' to accompany a meal.

Didier Gimonnet says Gastronome 2018 is a "Champagne of a feast. We bite into a juicy fruit with a refreshing texture"
The Brut Gastronome is vinified from grapes lower in sugar and the lower pressure creating those smaller bubbles make it a less intrusive sparkling wine to accompany food. Because Champagne Gimonnet aims to have some of the complexity of a vintage Champagne, while maintaining the fresh vitality of a young NV, it works particularly well with seafood.

Weather: 2018 was a very unusual year in more ways than one. After an exceptionally rainy winter, spring was very mild. The warmth brought with it stormy and sometimes destructive weather as well as variable rainfall throughout the appellation. Summer was very warm, dry and sunny and surpassed even the record breaking temperatures of 2003. 2018 is therefore a new benchmark for the Champagne region in terms of the heat, drought and sunshine levels.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: Côte des Blancs - 74% Grand Cru & 26% Premier Cru - 39% Cramant, 24.5% Chouilly, 23% Cuis, 10.5% Vertus & 3% Oger
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Lees Ageing: 3 years
Bottling Date: April 2019
Disgorged: April 7th 2022
Dosage: 5 g/l
Pressure: 4.5 bars
Drink: Now to 2028
Annual Production: 25000 bottles

Tasting Note: Dense, powerful wine. I would give it a few years in bottle to soften, as some of the edges are pretty angular at this point. I very much like the depth and vinous intensity of the Gastronome in 2018. Pear, dried flowers, chamomile, mint and spice build into the deep, potent finish. - Tasted by Antonio Galloni